Physical security isn’t just protecting your people and property, although that’s a large and very important aspect of it. Physical security also entails protecting your company’s critical data, systems, assets, and equipment. There are two main ways physical security can be threatened: natural disasters and malicious intent like vandalism and theft.

As we’ve mentioned in recent blogs, physical security is essential to your employees’ happiness, productiveness, and your company’s bottom line. We’ve seen the effects of what happens when physical security is overlooked or not taken as seriously as it should be. Safety climate is essential in your company’s profit and overall values. If it isn’t already, here’s why it should be and how you can get there.

Safety Climate And Culture In The Workplace

Safety climate, or culture, needs to be just that; a top priority of your organization’s culture. Safety climate is your employees’ perception of the importance of safety in the organization and how it’s acted on. How your employees perceive the safety climate affects their psychological health, feelings about being at work, productivity levels, and ability to carry out daily tasks. When your employees feel safe, they will be more productive. Safety is the absence of harm or hurt, so when someone feels safe they don’t anticipate harm or hurt, either physically or emotionally.

When you have a reputation for exceptional safety climate, this will result in better recruitment and retention rates as well as future growth. If your safety culture needs to be enhanced, start by communicating with your employees. Let them know that their contributions are valued, that they’re doing well, and that you want to help make them more successful at work through enhanced safety policies, procedures, and technology.

Ultimately, physical safety measures and procedures are the responsibility of management who takes appropriate actions to protect your employees. Appropriate actions include policies to protect employees from physical dangers, training in safety-related protocols, timely response to threats, and clearly showing your concern for physical safety.

How To Create Exceptional Safety Culture

How you measure safety determines how you manage safety. If you don’t have a contingency plan, now is the time to create one. We narrowed it down to three easy to follow steps. Assess risks, determine likelihood and impact of risks, and develop a contingency plan through a clear and simple timeline, instructions, and proper training.

These three steps will help you reevaluate how you measure and manage safety. A comprehensive contingency plan will increase your employees’ trust in the company and leaders when they see that there are policies and procedures to respond quickly and effectively to physical threats.

Companies with exceptional safety culture embed this into their mission and daily management and activities. It guides every interaction, decision, and overall behavior. Additionally, companies with exceptional safety culture have happier and healthier employees. Since safety climate is a perception, it absolutely affects mental health and the overall well-being of your employees. The safer your employees feel at work, the greater their engagement and job satisfaction and performance will be.

A successful safety culture will not appear or happen overnight. It takes intentional thoughts and actions to create and implement a safety climate that eventually becomes part of your culture. It should be at the heart of every successful business.

Workplace safety is a continuous journey and Sonitrol is with you every step of the way. Our comprehensive suite of security solutions uses verifiable technology, is monitored by security experts 24/7, and can be easily integrated over time. You can start with our business security camera system and add-on audio detection when you need it. Immediately enhance your safety culture with our system. Contact us for more details.

As a property manager or landlord, you may wonder how a security system would impact your tenants. We believe it will not only benefit them, but you and your job as well. A security system can bring great changes to your business, but before you decide if you’ll use one and what kind, we know the benefits must be clear!

[Read more…]

College campuses can be a source of intellectual and social development and freedom. They can also present more than a few safety concerns, especially for those students living in the residence halls who are on campus even after classes are out for the day. For many students, this is the first time they are out on their own and concern for personal safety might not be high on their list of priorities – but it should be. One of the biggest concerns, right up there with scholarships and GPA, is how to keep your home-away-from-home safe from theft and violence.

[Read more…]